The Brick Dragon Pee Wees’ postseason ride came to a halt one game shy of the Pop Warner national championships on Nov. 27, just miles from where they achieved most of their 13-0 season.
The Lake Harbor Seahawks from Maryland had a little too much speed for the Dragons to handle as the Seahawks prevailed, 18-8, with three long runs in the Eastern Regional finals at Toms River South High School. It’s Lake Harbor’s second trip to the nationals in Orlando, Fla., in three years.
“We played our physical game, but they had a lot of speed, and we had some breakdowns on the outside [coverage],” coach Tom Holland said.
The Dragons actually took an 8-6 lead in the second quarter, when Joe Phillips scored a touchdown and Kyle Taranto kicked the conversion. The series started when the Dragons took over on the Seahawks’ 30-yard line when the Maryland team turned the ball over on downs. Kyle Wojtaszek was the workhorse from there, carrying the ball for a series of plays down to the two-yard line, where Phillips took it on quarterback keepers on the next three snaps, tumbling into the end zone on the third one.
But the Seahawks came back with a long touchdown run moments later to take a 12-8 halftime lead.
Lake Harbor added to the lead in the third quarter with a one-yard touchdown run that was set up by a long run moments earlier to the two-yard line. The touchdown was on fourth down.
“They were killing us on the big play,” Holland said. “We were doing OK the rest of the time in the short yardage situations. But you have to be on your toes every single minute, and we had a couple of lapses. They had two running backs who were better than anybody we had seen all year.”
The defense played a “solid all-around game,” Holland added.
“I just hope everybody remembers the 13 wins and not the one loss,” he said. “We accomplished a lot this year — the first regional win by a Dragons team, and ending up one game away from going to Florida. We finished among the top 16 teams in the whole country.”
The Pee Wees, making their furthest advance into the playoffs since the program began in 1961, beat the Millstone Eagles, 22-6, in the semifinals behind Phillips’ three touchdowns to raise their record to 13-0.
“The defense played outstanding football,” Holland said. “As long as we continue to play our usual disciplined defense and control the clock by moving the ball, we’ll be fine.”
In the game against Millstone, Phillips, who plays quarterback, ran 45 yards off an option play and Taranto kicked the conversion to spot the Dragons an 8-0 halftime lead. Millstone pulled to 8-6 in the third quarter on a long run off a trick play but was stopped on a conversion before Phillips widened the lead with a two-yard touchdown run. He faked a handoff to running back Wojtaszek for the touchdown moments after Phillips had broken a 40-yard run. He also completed a 25-yard pass to Mike Begovich early in the drive.
Phillips, who also plays at right cornerback, made one of his two interceptions in the fourth quarter and ran it back 60 yards for a score with help from a block downfield by Austin Koziol.
In the Garden State Games semifinals, the Brick Dragons Junior Pee Wee White lost, 6-0, in overtime to Millstone. The Dragons had driven to Millstone’s two-yard line in the second quarter when penalties snuffed the threat.
“Defensively, the kids played great, but we couldn’t get anything going,” coach Rich Schleifer said.
He praised the efforts on the defensive side by Ryan Hawkins, Anthony Costanza, Matthew Schleifer, Steve Nguyen and Joe Lopez as the team ended its season 7-4-1.
“We can be proud about reaching the Jersey Shore Pop Warner League championship game and getting to the Garden State Games semifinals,” Schleifer said.
As for the cheer and dance competition, the Brick Dragons Midget Cheer squad coached by Lori High-Martucci advanced to the nationals at Disneyland in Orlando with a runner-up finish in the Eastern Regionals. Coach Kathy Lindenbaum’s Midget Dance squad finished first in the regionals, both held at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton.
The Midget Cheer heads for Orlando on Dec. 9 and will perform on Dec. 11. The Midget Dance departs on Dec. 7 and its competition will be held on Dec. 10.
The cheer and dance organization held a clothing drive on Nov. 29 at the Drum Point Sports Complex, and also is looking for sponsors to print their logos on commemorative T-shirts that will be sold to the public. Companies must commit to sponsorship by Dec. 5, by calling Lindenbaum at 732-920- 6225.
Both teams competed in younger age groups in the nationals a year ago and did well. The girls on the current Midget cheer squad finished second in the nationals in the Junior Midgets division last year, and the girls on this year’s Midget dance squad won the nationals as Junior Midgets last year.
“They were amazing, the best they ever performed,” High-Martucci said of her cheer squad’s performance. The squad is coached by a large group of dedicated assistants.
“They had a rough week,” she said. “They had to change their routine because one girl was out with the flu, although she’ll be back for the nationals. It was their spirit. They really wanted it and gave the performance of the season.”
Lindenbaum said her dance squad “did an awesome job with the kick line. They did great. They worked very hard, and it paid off. ” The Dragons Junior PeeWee cheer and Junior Pee Wee dance both also did well in the regionals but fell short of qualifying for the nationals.